FAQ

What is a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)?
Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs), also known as nurses aides, orderlies, patient care technicians, and home health aides, work under the supervision of a nurse and provide assistance to patients with daily living tasks

What do Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) do?
To be a CNA requires a special commitment and the ability to give compassionate and dignified care. Working closely with patients. CNAs assist nurses in providing basic patient care. CNAs are responsible for basic care services such as bathing, grooming and feeding patients, assisting nurses with medical equipment, and checking patient vital signs. CNAs give patients important social and emotional support and also provide vital information on patient conditions to nurses. They work in a facility or hospital, under the direct supervision of a licensed nurse.

Where do CNAs work?
CNAs work in nursing homes, hospitals, mental health facilities, assisted living facilities, and private homes. Job prospects for CNAs are expected to be excellent due to the increasing long-term care needs of an aging population.

What kind of training will I need in order to become a certified nurse assistant?
In addition to a high school diploma or GED, you'll need to complete a six-to-twelve week CNA certificate program at a community college or medical facility. Classroom instruction generally includes basic nursing skills, anatomy and physiology, nutrition, and infection control.  Students also gain plenty of hands-on-experience during clinical activities.

What do homemaker-home health aides (CHHHA's) do?
Some typical duties of a homemaker-home health aide include helping the patient take a bath, use the toilet or bedpan, and dress. They also may prepare patient meals, do light laundering, straighten the patient’s room, run errands, and assist with exercise regimens.

How does the certified homemaker-home health aide know what to do?
A New Jersey licensed Registered Professional Nurse (R.N.) designs the plan of care for the patient and delegates responsibilities to the homemaker-home health aide.

How do I know if a homemaker-home health aide is certified?
In New Jersey, homemaker-home health aides fall under supervision of the New Jersey Board of Nursing and are certified only after successfully completing a required training program, a competency evaluation and a criminal history background check. Check the On-line directory of certified homemaker-home health aides to ensure the person you are considering hiring is a certified CHHHA. You may also call the Board of Nursing at (973) 504-6546 to check the certification status of a CHHHA.

What NJ government agency regulates Health Care Service Firms at which CHHHA's may be employed?
The Division of Consumer Affairs’ Regulated Business Section regulates Health Care Service Firms in NJ. CHHHA's may not work independently. They must be employed by a health care service firm and be under he supervision of an R.N.

What NJ government agency regulates CHHHA's?
The New Jersey Board of Nursing regulates certified homemaker-home health aides

What are the certification requirements for CHHHA's?

• Completion of a Homemaker-Home Health Aide course approved by the New Jersey Board of Nursing.

• Successful completion of a competency evaluation by a New Jersey licensed home health care services agency.

• Hold a current and valid certification by the New Jersey Board of Nursing as a Homemaker-Home Health Aide.

• Completion of the federal and New Jersey State criminal history background checks.

• Employment by a home care services agency.

• Supervision by a licensed Registered Professional Nurse.